Back Purging Crawler With Inflatable Seals for Pipe Welds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional back purging methods for welding piping circuits suffer from poor seal quality, limited internal access, turbulent gas flow, and lack of monitoring and inspection, leading to oxidation and corrosion issues.
Innovation Solution
A robotic crawler system with inflatable seal assemblies and extendable arms for creating an impermeable barrier within the piping circuit, coupled with inert gas flow control and monitoring, ensures optimal welding conditions by displacing oxygen and maintaining low oxygen concentrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional back purging methods use cardboard, foam, or water-soluble sheets with adhesive tapes to seal pipe segments, then the sealing process is simple to implement, but the seal quality is poor and unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inflatable sealing elements made of flexible material that can be inflated to create a reliable seal against the internal surface of the pipe. These flexible sealing elements conform to the pipe geometry and provide a much more reliable seal compared to rigid cardboard or foam materials, while still maintaining ease of deployment through the inflation mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses pneumatic inflation to deploy and secure the sealing elements within the pipe. By inflating the sealing elements with gas or liquid pressure, the system achieves a reliable, conforming seal that adapts to the pipe's internal geometry, significantly improving seal quality over conventional adhesive-taped methods.
2Device complexity
If manual methods are used to introduce inert gas into sealed pipe segments, then the equipment complexity is low, but the gas flow becomes turbulent and monitoring is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic crawler is self-contained with integrated inert gas storage tanks and flow control systems. The system autonomously manages the inert gas atmosphere by controlling gas flow rates, monitoring oxygen levels with sensors, and maintaining proper atmospheric conditions throughout the welding process without requiring external manual intervention or complex external equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates oxygen sensors and flow meters that continuously monitor the internal atmosphere and gas flow conditions. This feedback is fed to the control system, which automatically adjusts gas flow rates and alerts operators to any deviations from optimal conditions, ensuring reliable atmospheric control throughout the welding process.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional methods are used for back purging, then the setup is straightforward, but there is no real-time monitoring or inspection capability
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic crawler incorporates oxygen sensors, flow meters, and other monitoring instruments that continuously measure atmospheric composition and gas flow conditions. This real-time data is transmitted to the control system and can be displayed to operators, providing continuous feedback on the quality of the inert atmosphere and enabling immediate detection of any issues that could compromise weld quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection methods with electronic sensing and automated monitoring systems. Oxygen sensors, flow meters, and potentially camera systems provide electronic measurement and transmission of data about the internal pipe conditions, eliminating the need for manual inspection and providing continuous, objective monitoring of the welding environment.
4Ease of manufacture
If the pipe segments are sealed and inert gas introduced manually, then the process is simple to set up, but internal access is limited for inspection and maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic crawler is designed as a multi-functional system that combines sealing, inert gas introduction, atmospheric monitoring, welding assistance, and inspection capabilities in a single integrated platform. The extendable arms can perform both sealing operations and inspection tasks, while the onboard sensors provide both atmospheric monitoring and internal condition assessment, eliminating the need for separate manual inspection procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic crawler is a self-contained system with integrated tanks for inert gas, power supplies, sensors, and control systems. Once deployed inside the pipe, it autonomously manages the entire back purging process and can perform inspection functions without requiring external equipment or personnel to access the pipe interior, providing both simplified setup and maintained inspection capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides efficient, automated back purging that prevents oxidation and corrosion, ensuring high-quality welds by maintaining low oxygen levels and enabling real-time monitoring and inspection of weld quality.
Implementation Method 1
first and second seal assemblies configured to generate an interference seal with an interior of the piping circuit
Implementation Method 2
replacing the air within the sealed area with an inert gas such that no oxidation may occur
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic crawler for back purging a weld location in a piping circuit includes a body, one or more conveyors coupled to the body for transporting the robotic crawler within the piping circuit, first and second seal assemblies configured to generate an interference seal with an interior of the piping circuit, a pair of extendable arms, each extendable arm supporting a respective one of the first and second seal assemblies on an opposite side of the body, each respective extendable arm selectively extendable and retractable with respect to the body to adjust a position of the respective seal assembly with respect to the body, and an inert gas flow valve for providing an inert gas into a sealed area defined between the first and second seal assemblies.